


What the heart misses, let the festivities give back

by LadyKarasuNM



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M, Old Men In Love, Slight Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:20:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28140798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKarasuNM/pseuds/LadyKarasuNM
Summary: Gabriel goes to his yearly retirement for Christmas when he finds there is already a "guest" at his winter cabin... Or should he say their winter cabin?
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22
Collections: Reaper76 Free For All Secret Santa 2020





	What the heart misses, let the festivities give back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [laissemoidanser](https://archiveofourown.org/users/laissemoidanser/gifts).



> Here comes the admission: I screamed in excitement a little when I saw you were the one i had to gift!!! I wanted to fulfill everything you asked for, but I feel like I ended up getting short on it. I wished to give you one of my best pieces, since you are someone that has inspired me to write so much before, but I'm not stisfied at all with how it came up, so I apologise for it. Still, you can be certain that I wrote it with my outmost care and love <3 I hope it at least satisfies a little that fluff craving we all have inside with these two! 
> 
> Happy festivities, dear <3

The cold of the snow was sipping into the metallic core of his nanites, making him feel a bone deep ache inside his ghostly form. He was nearing the remote mountain cabin, hiding from one shade of a tree to another so his black mist wouldn’t be too obvious against the stark white of the landscape. The sun beginning to set helping him in his endeavor. 

As soon as he was within the vicinity of the cabin, he realised that the chimney was throwing smoke, the lights were on. Someone was inside. 

He slid underneath the backdoor, no sound coming out of him. He wanted to see who on Earth had had the gall of invading _his_ little home. He passed in front of an empty racket for coats, hung on the wall beside framed pictures of Overwatch parties, a couple candids of the team members… It was undeniable who that house belonged to. Whoever the poor intruder soul was, they had to know they were royally fucked. 

He reformed, fully dressed in his combat attire, shotguns at the ready, and stepped into the living room… Only to find the back of a very well known white haired head seated at one of the sofas in front of the fire, a book on his lap, a mug of what smelled like hot cocoa at his side. He saw him reach for the mug with one hand, not turning back to look at Gabriel. 

“You are late.” The soldier greeted him. No, not soldier. _Jack_ greeted him. And what a difference it was. No tacky jacket or visor in sight, no weapons nor anything besides the mug, the book and a blanket over his legs.

Gabriel lowered his weapons, dematerialising them back into nanites, with a very confused frown. “What are you doing here?” His voice coming out distorted by his mask. 

“What does it look like? I’m at our cabin, ready to spend Christmas away from the job for once.” He then turned to look at him, comically out of place with his Reaper armour in the middle of such a domestic scene. “The question is what are you going to do?” 

After a moment of tense silence, the wraith sighed, taking off his owl mask and hood, revealing the heavily scarred and moky face underneath it. “You know perfectly well I come here every year…” 

“I know.” He answered, matter-of-factly, observing him with a neutral expression over his reading glasses. 

For a second, Gabriel looked like he wanted to say something, do something, anything. Maybe demand a real explanation. Maybe kick him out. Maybe even punch him. But he ended up turning towards the bedroom. “You know what? Fuck it. Do whatever you want, I’m gonna get changed…” 

“I would go through the kitchen afterwards.” Was the response that rang after him. 

He ignored him, in favour of going to their old room to peel off his black leathers and kevlar, changing it for a hoodie, sweats and socks. Yeah, that was way comfier… Once he was more comfortable, he padded to the kitchen, his socked feet not doing much sound against the wooden floor. Sure enough, on the counter was a mug prepared with his favourite proportion of sugar and cinnamon, beside a metal jar with still warm cocoa. With a little, tho confused, smile on his face, he filled the mug, taking it with him back to the living room, going to take a seat beside the other man on the sofa. He sank on the soft cushions, letting the warmth of the fire, the mug, chase away the previous coldness that was inside him. 

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the calm of the ambient wash over him, relaxing his muscles. He only opened them when he felt the other body get up and something little on his lap. A Christmas tree ornament. He looked up to Jack, a confused expression on his face yet again. 

“What you look me like that for? You going to tell me you don’t want to decorate the tree?” He said like it was the most logical thing ever, and not as if they hadn’t had a civic interaction between the both of them in years. Gabriel watched him pick the box of Christmas decoration, put it under a tree that he had probably hauled inside before he had wraithed there, and start putting the balls and figurines on the branches. 

“That’s it, give that to me, old man. You’ve always been shit at untangling the lights.” Finally conceded after watching Jack fighting to even get the wires out of the box. 

They ended up setting up the tree mostly in silence, only accompanied by the sound of the cracking fire. Between ornaments, they would steal glances at each other, as if they were sizing the other. Gabriel didn’t know what was happening, but the more he looked at him, the more at ease he felt. It was like all this years he had had the sensation of having forgotten something very important, and it was now right in front of him, hanging glittery snowflakes. 

Once they were finished, a fully dressed tree in one corner of the room, they were seated side by side on the carpet in front of the fireplace looking at the flames. Jack shivered slightly, now that they had stopped moving, so in pure muscle memory, Gabriel reached for the blanket that was till lying on the sofa and drapped it over both their shoulders. The wraith felt the arm that was against his relax. 

He couldn’t take the ignorance anymore. 

“Why have you come here, Jack?” He asked with a softer tone this time, but straight to the point. 

“I told you. I wanted to spend Christmas away from the job for once.” He repeated, not able to convince even himself. 

“You could have gone anywhere in the world. Maybe even go back to your home back in Indiana. Why come here?” 

Beside him, the white haired head lowered, looking now at his hands on his lap. “You said it. You always come here…” He muttered. 

“So you wanted to see me?” 

A nod. “I missed you so much. Back in the watchpoint now everything is different, with a lot of new kids. But it’s also the same, with Ana, Reinhardt, McCree… A lot of old faces… Sometimes it feels like the old days, you know? The camaraderie, the people… Then I will turn to tell you something and remember you are not there anymore.” He hunched over slightly to put his forehead against the other’s shoulder. “I just miss my other half. I miss my husband…” 

Gabriel’s face had gone completely blank, a mask of coldness that he used to wear underneath the owl skull. “You miss a dead man.” 

Jack lifted his eyes at that, a pleading look in them. “And yet I see you right in front of me. Gabe, please, look at me.” 

He complied, turning to look at him, finding those baby blue eyes staring at him with enough intensity to melt metal. “Jackie…” He sighed, caving in and hugging him with an arm around his middle. “If I go back to you now, I fear I won’t be able to live without having you by my side day and night.” He confessed in a breath of air, getting dangerously close to the other’s face. 

A little tentative smile graced his lips at that, “I think I can live with that.” He answered, shortening the distance between them until they were just a breath away from each other. 

“I really hope you do.” Was the last thing he said before closing that space, claiming the lips of his husband like they were the air he had been needing all those years to breath but had forgotten it. 

Jack’s hands flew to the other’s back, holding onto him for dear life while they kissed both of their loneliness, their longing, away. 

When the morning came, they would have problems to solve, logistics, plans to make. But in the meantime, they had a little Christmas miracle of a night to remind each other how much they still loved one another.


End file.
